The Foreign Secretary has accused Argentina of intimidating, harassing and
threatening Falkland islanders and said their policy towards the islands is
“deeply regrettable.”

In a strongly-worded article for the Daily Telegraph, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the invasion, William Hague criticises Argentina’s attempts to coerce the islanders and pledges to defend their sovereignty.

The Argentine government’s policy in recent months has been “deeply regrettable” and their statements have “impressed few people, including in South America,” he writes.

“In place of the dialogue and engagement we saw in the 1990s Argentina has in recent years taken a range of measures to try and coerce the islands,” the Foreign Secretary says.

His comments came as the widow of Falklands hero Lt Col H Jones said she would like to believe that Britain would launch another task force to defend the islands.

Col Jones, who was commander of 2 Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, died leading a charge against an Argentine machinegun post at Goose Green.

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Sara Jones, 70, told the Daily Telegraph: “We stood up for what we believed in. We didn’t like to see a small country overrun by somebody who had very little claim to it.

“The islanders have always been fiercely British and want to stay that way. I would like to believe that we would, if we could, do it again.”

She said her husband, who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross and is buried on the islands, “would never ask people to do something he would not do himself.”

“He would not have thought he was a hero. He would have thought all the chaps were heroes. He just happened, sadly, not to come home,” she said.

Although Argentina’s air force is now ageing, a report by the UK National Defence Association said Britain would be “hard put to protect, reinforce or re-take the islands” without an aircraft carrier.

The Prime Minister saluted the heroism of the Falklands Task Force and said: “We are rightly proud of the role Britain played in righting a profound wrong.”

Mr Cameron added: “Britain remains staunchly committed to upholding the right of the Falkland islanders, and of the Falkland islanders alone, to determine their own future.

“That was the fundamental principle that was at stake thirty years ago and that is the principle which we solemnly re-affirm today.”

In his article, Mr Hague lists “attempts to intimidate” businesses involved in the oil industry, “harassment” of Falkland fishing vessels by the Argentine coastguard and “threats” to cut the sole air link between the islands and South America, as well as closing their ports to cruise ships that have visited the Falklands.

“Such efforts to intensify a disagreement - which neither we nor the people of the Falkland Islands have ever sought to provoke - are out of step with international collaboration in the modern world,” he adds.

Mr Hague’s comments follow the disclosure by the Sunday Telegraph that a group of British and American banks have been threatened with legal action by the Argentine government for advising and writing research reports about companies involved in the Falkland Islands' £1.6bn oil industry.

Mr Hague pledges that Britain will “maintain an absolute commitment to preserve the right of the Falkland Islanders, some of whom have lived there for nine generations, to determine their own political and economic destiny.”

He says the British government will not negotiate over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands “unless and until the people who live there wish it.”

Mr Hague says that agreements have been reached in the past on fisheries, hydrocarbons, communications, trade and “confidence building measures” but Argentina has gone back on them.

In the 30 years since 255 British servicemen lost their lives on the islands, the population has almost doubled to around 3000, and GDP has risen from £5 million in 1980 to over £100 million.

“In the face of a sustained Argentine effort to prevent them from doing so, the Falkland Islanders have nevertheless developed a thriving local economy, with a responsibly managed fishery, growing tourism based on their unique natural environment, and the beginnings of a commercial hydrocarbons industry,” he says.

Mr Hague says Britain was “well on track” to double trade with Brazil, Mexico and Colombia by 2015.

“Regardless of the regional politics, the Falkland Islanders are keen to play their part in this new regional reality,” he adds.

Mr Hague says that today’s anniversary of the start of the conflict marks a day for commemoration and reflection, especially for those families on both sides whose loved ones were lost to its battles, including many Argentinean soldiers who also rest in peace on the Islands.

“As we look back on those events, we should remind the world that in the years since their liberation the Falkland Islanders have repeated - without qualification or equivocation - their wish to keep their constitutional status, their national identity, and to live peacefully with their neighbours in Latin America,” Mr Hague says.

“As long as the people of the Falklands continue to express that view, the UK will defend and support their right to do so.”

“If anniversaries provide moments for reflection, it is surely time to reflect on how we can all work together in our common interest in the years ahead,” Mr Hague adds.

“It is relevant that many countries who have bilateral disagreements still collaborate on areas where there are mutual benefits such as economic and trade co-operation. That is our wish with Argentina.”

Newly declassified American diplomatic cables reveal that the US feared the Thatcher government "had not thought much about diplomatic possibilities" for resolving the Falklands crisis and predicted the conflict would be a "close-run thing" that could well bring about Margaret Thatcher's fall.

Newly declassified American diplomatic cables reveal that the US predicted the conflict would be a "close-run thing" that could well bring about Margaret Thatcher's fall.

The documents, published by the National Security Archives, an independent research organisation in Washington, also highlight American worries that a protracted war could draw in the Soviet Union on Argentina's side.

In a personal note to Thatcher on 1 April 1982, President Ronald Reagan wrote: "I want you to know that we have valued your co-operation on the challenges we both face in many different parts of the world. We will do what we can to assist you here. Sincerely, Ron."